Code

Final Deliverable

Slides

Original GUI

Our Group

  • Zhen Ren (he/him) is a Computer Science major and Math major from Qingdao,Shandong, China. After graduation, he plans to get a MSCS at Brown University. In his free time, he enjoys reading novels and playing video games.
  • Alison Cameron (she/her) is a Computer Science major from Reno, NV. After graduation, she plans to move to Boston and work for the Broad Institute as an Associate Computational Biologist. In her free time, she enjoys swimming, crocheting, and hammocking.
  • Piper Welch (she/her) is a Computer Science major and Biochemistry minor from Santa Cruz, California. After Carleton, she is getting her PhD in Computer Science at the University of Vermont. In her free time, she likes to take care of her plants, spend time outside, and bake.
  • Zhixing Jiang (she/her) is a Computer Science major from Suzhou, China. After graduation, she plans to work in the tech industry. In her free time, she likes to scuba dive, hike, and play video games.
  • Izzi Clawson (they/them) is a Computer Science major from O’fallon, MO. After graduation, they plan to continue working in the cannabis industry. In their free time, they enjoy playing rugby and hanging out outside.
  • Chloe Morscheck (she/they) is a Computer Science major from Salem, OR. After graduation, they plan to move to Boston and work in tech before (maybe) going back to school. In their free time, they enjoy reading, crafting, and spending time with friends.

Our Work

The Virtual Biology Lab is a graphical user interface of Symbulation, a computational research platform designed for experimenting with the evolution of endosymbiosis. This virtual lab was created in collaboration with Professor Sarah Deel in the Biology Department at Carleton College, and is catered towards introductory biology students.


Virtual labs have grown in popularity in recent years because of technological advancements, as well as their ability to benefit students at underprivileged institutions without the resources to support a typical lab experience. Virtual labs are also particularly useful for the study of evolutionary biology because they can overcome challenges such as high expense, sophisticated facilities, and the long amount of time that it can take to observe evolution. Virtual labs allow for more rapid experimentation with evolution while still providing a hands-on experience.


We built our virtual lab on top of Symbulation, which is an agent-based model of endosymbiosis. It supports a generic host and symbiont type and allows for their reproduction, mutation, and adaptations to the environment. The system has produced many peer-reviewed research papers, and is carefully calibrated to empirical biological dynamics.


In order to produce our virtual lab, we implemented three main goals. The goals are as follows: 1) produce live graphs as experiments are running for a more complete understanding of the system over time, 2) create an interactive tutorial that guides students through the user interface, and 3) improve overall aesthetics of the graphical user interface, with the specific goal of scaffolding information for the students. We achieved these goals by splitting up our tasks, while working to consistently merge our code throughout the project.